1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for joining at least one actuator to at least one oblong working unit of a coating system, allowing translatory and/or rotatory adjustment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In coating systems, such as those of paper machines or paper converting machines, traveling material webs, for example, of paper, cardboard or a textile material, are by use of a suitable applicator provided on one or both sides with one or several layers of a liquid or pasty coating medium, for instance color, starch, impregnating fluid or the like. To produce a maximally uniform and exact coating, such coating systems, notably their applicators, include oblong working units which substantially extend across the entire width of the fiber material web. The working units also serve the direct or indirect manipulation of the coating medium, or adjust or correct a desired length profile and/or cross profile of the coating. Further, the working units allow translatory and/or rotatory adjustment by use of suitable actuators. The actuators may be mechanical, electrical, electromagnetic, magnetic, magnetostrictive, piezoelectric, pneumatic, hydraulic, etc., and are incorporated in a feedback control or a control system. Depending on the configuration of the coating system, an oblong working unit may be, for example, an adjustable lip of an open-jet nozzle applicator, the adjustable walls of an applicator chamber, an adjustable doctor element such as a doctor blade, a roll doctor element or the like, an adjustable doctor element holder, an adjustable pressure bar, an adjustable deflector plate, etc. Working units of this type usually allow uniform adjustment either substantially across the entire machine width or zonewise.
With such coating systems, practice has shown that inaccuracies occur in the assembly of the actuator and the working unit due to manufacturing tolerances as well as offset and angular defects. These inaccuracies cannot later be compensated for, or only at a disproportionately high control expense. In the operation of the coating system, moreover, adjustment inaccuracies and harmful distortion of the actuator and/or working unit result from the above circumstances and not only have a negative effect on the quality of the produced coating, but also lead to an impairment of the function, precision and service life of these components. These unfavorable effects are especially pronounced in the operation of frequently used rotatorily adjusted working units, even with slight manufacturing tolerances and accurate assembly. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that setting the actuators and working unit as well as connecting and mutually aligning them is a rather time-consuming and cost-intensive process and, due to the circumstances illustrated above, does not always lead to the desired result.